on 9/11 itself, I thought of leaving law school and calling the recruiter back who'd called me a week before school started about enlisting, and getting a gig at Defense language school. I hesitated largely because I was afraid the war would be long over by the time I got out of Basic and OCS (well that and I was 30 years old at the time,out of shape and thinking crazy thoughts and I knew it on some level). Given what happened to those that DID enlist that day (I'm looking at YOU here Pat Tillman) how they were cynically repaid for their patriotism by being used as fodder in an unrelated, unnecessary war, or sent off without sufficent resources to win the important war. I'm so very glad I slept on that decision, and I think grew up more than a little when I thought about how naive I was that day as I watched the next 10 years unfold

Magorn:on 9/11 itself, I thought of leaving law school and calling the recruiter back who'd called me a week before school started about enlisting, and getting a gig at Defense language school. I hesitated largely because I was afraid the war would be long over by the time I got out of Basic and OCS (well that and I was 30 years old at the time,out of shape and thinking crazy thoughts and I knew it on some level). Given what happened to those that DID enlist that day (I'm looking at YOU here Pat Tillman) how they were cynically repaid for their patriotism by being used as fodder in an unrelated, unnecessary war, or sent off without sufficent resources to win the important war. I'm so very glad I slept on that decision, and I think grew up more than a little when I thought about how naive I was that day as I watched the next 10 years unfold

That's why you join the Navy. Outside of a few bomb laden speedboats here and there, it's pretty quiet

Marcus Aurelius:Moopy Mac: Pat Tillman is a great American hero, but he quickly became disillusioned with his decision to put his life and actions in the hands of politicians.

He's the poster child for really good reasons to stay as far away from the military as possible.

Tillman was too interesting and complex of a man to ever be 'used' effectively for any political purpose and his family wouldn't stand for the dumbing down of his personal philosophies. The cracks started with his brother's appearance at his memorial service and thankfully his family refused to back down. That whole family is full of heroes.

Moopy Mac:Pat Tillman is a great American hero, but he quickly became disillusioned with his decision to put his life and actions in the hands of politicians.

T.V.The NFL is the place where phrases are redefinedlike "recession" to "necessary downturn""crude oil" on a beach to "mousse""Civilian death" to "collateral damages"and being killed by your own Armyis now called "friendly fire"

/and "mindless dementia due to years of cheap headshots" is "not the NFL's problem"....

The odds of him dying like Pat Tillman are high. Enlisting is what the naive poor do to help the greedy rich rob and loot under the mistaken notion that they are serving their country. They will leave you at the curb on trash day when they are done with you. Otherwise the words "homeless" and "veteran" would make no sense when put together.

IAmRight:rickythepenguin: I saw Pat play many a time as a Cardinal. Whenever Pat made a play, it was just different for the fans, becuase he played there as a Sun Devil.

Saddest day of my entire tour in Iraq was the day I found out he died.

I was I remember hearing the report on his death on the radio-maybe Dan Patrick's show. It was sad to me, to be sure, but I also distinctly remember thinking that I hoped there wasn't something screwed up about the whole scene, since it was so high profile. So much for that.

macdaddy357:The odds of him dying like Pat Tillman are high. Enlisting is what the naive poor do to help the greedy rich rob and loot under the mistaken notion that they are serving their country. They will leave you at the curb on trash day when they are done with you. Otherwise the words "homeless" and "veteran" would make no sense when put together.

You sound like you have manboobs and sympathetic PMS. Maybe there is some micropenis issue mixed in there as well. The odds of these statements being true is high.

bhcompy:Magorn: on 9/11 itself, I thought of leaving law school and calling the recruiter back who'd called me a week before school started about enlisting, and getting a gig at Defense language school. I hesitated largely because I was afraid the war would be long over by the time I got out of Basic and OCS (well that and I was 30 years old at the time,out of shape and thinking crazy thoughts and I knew it on some level). Given what happened to those that DID enlist that day (I'm looking at YOU here Pat Tillman) how they were cynically repaid for their patriotism by being used as fodder in an unrelated, unnecessary war, or sent off without sufficent resources to win the important war. I'm so very glad I slept on that decision, and I think grew up more than a little when I thought about how naive I was that day as I watched the next 10 years unfold

That's why you join the Navy. Outside of a few bomb laden speedboats here and there, it's pretty quiet

That's what my son thought, then they sent him to Afghanistan with the Marines as a Hospital Corpsman. He didn't get shot or blown up, but he still came home pretty farked up. The Navy said they'd fix his broken parts if he re-enlisted or he could take his chances with the VA. 7 months later and they're still dragging it out with the idea that somehow he made it through 5 years of service with a broken hand, a torn shoulder muscle and near total deafness on his right ear. It's on his discharge papers, but they still have to decide if it might be pre-existing and forget about the PTSD from scraping up dead children and their families, watching his buddies get shot and nearly getting killed on 3 different occasions (once from an IED detonating directly in front of his vehicle).